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Tag: Canada

Our cruising guide states that Princess Louisa Inlet is the “‘holy grail’ for cruising people all over the world”. It did not disappoint. After a 40 mile trek up beautiful Jarvis Inlet we arrived at the entrance to Princess Louisa: The Malibu Rapids – which can run up to 9 miles an hour. We arrived a few hours before slack tide and took a look at the pass. Here is a video of when probably not to enter the inlet in a slow boat.

When the tide turned our transit was smooth sailing.

At Malibu Rapids is a beautiful lodge that was built for the rich and famous back in the 1930s and is now being used as a youth camp.We cruised another four miles up the inlet, surrounded by 6,000 foot fjord walls and water falls, to arrive at Chatterbox Falls and the free dock. Note the size of the boats in the center of the photo compared to the surroundings.And looking the other way.Kayaking in my inflatable. Donations are accepted for the free dock. Mike and Chatterbox FallsDinner on the bow.We also spent a couple of nights at the other anchorage in Princess Louisa Inlet: McDonald Island.There was an abundance of oysters and mussels for us to enjoy. We made it just in time before the season closed on May 31.Breakfast on the flybridge with this view.

Right now we are in a marina for the night, stocking up on food, defrosting the fridge, cleaning the boat, doing laundry, and catching up on internet. Oh, and taking showers – in Mexico we could just jump in the ocean and then have a quick rinse but the water here is very cold – a water-maker is definitely on our upgrade list!

Seeing the BC ferries is a sure sign that we made it to Canada! We checked in at Bedwell Harbor with a simple phone call to customs. The poor chap next to us was searched and interviewed for hours. He was complaining loudly about his fate, so it just goes to show that if you show a little respect and follow the rules there are no problems.While underway this is usually our setup. Cruising guide, plotter/sounder and iPad with Navionics app. Above is another sounder. After checking into Canada around noon we made it to Dodd Narrows just in time to catch a nice 3-4 knot current at 6pm. We actually had to slow down on the way there so we would not be going with a 6-7 knot current.Here is a short time-lapse video of our transit through the narrows.